PUBLISHED: 09:52 16 August 2019 | UPDATED: 09:52 16 August 2019 Amy Gibbons The power cut at Ipswich Hospital affected the outpatients department, X-Ray and pathology areas Picture: ARCHANT Archant A battery responsible for triggering back-up electricity supplies was “faulty” at the time Ipswich Hospital suffered a power cut, an investigation has found. The blackout struck the hospital amid nationwide power outages on August 9, which affected huge swathes of the country. While all 11 back-up generators at the hospital kicked in immediately, some departments were left without power for a short period of time. Following an initial investigation, it has been revealed a faulty battery failed to switch the electricity supply at the time of the outage – so, while the back-up power source was working, it was not activated. The issue only affected the main outpatients department, X-ray and pathology areas of the hospital, all of which relied on generator power from 5.30pm until 9.30pm. The hospital said the battery was within its recommended life and would have been tested frequently. You may also want to watch: A spokeswoman said: “Our initial investigation has shown that at 4.52pm on Friday, August 9, we lost our electricity supply until 5pm. “We have 11 generators at Ipswich Hospital and all of them worked immediately. “What we have found is that the battery which automatically operates one of the switch over systems from mains power to generator power was faulty despite being within its recommended life. “We do test all of… [Read full story]
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